Don’t Relent on Lent

We are two and a half weeks into Lent and as usual, I have broken all my lenten goals.  So it goes.  This year, I put forth my most sweeping agenda yet, doing a pretty thorough moral inventory of my interactions with prayer, scripture, alcohol, generosity, exercise, and sexuality.  And two weeks in, I’m back to square one.  My temptation is to chuck it.

But why?  This is where the Protestant in me must push back against my veneration of Lent.  If these are the directions you want your life to go, keep pushing on.  And has the Christian life ever really been about getting it right the first time?  Grace, grace, grace.

Augustine, writing to a community in sin, had this to say: “Do not blush with shame and rush headlong into death by mental grief…but rather renew your salvation by being penitent.”  I always loved this quote.  Sin is an opportunity to renew your salvation.  My failing is an opportunity to renew my desire to seek God.  And my failing is an opportunity to remember that I only seek because of the unconditional love of God.

So…all you lenters.  There are still 4 weeks until Easter.  Let’s get back on the horse.  Let us not run headlong into shame but use this opportunity to renew our salvation.

Blessings!

The Theology of the Tire

I love analogies.  This one came to me tonight.

Our theology should be like a well-inflated tire.

If the tire is pumped too full, it becomes rigid.  The slightest stone or pothole causes it to pop rendering the tire not just useless, but shredded.  Like a systematic theology too tightly woven, one problem and the whole thing falls apart.  So the driver spends the majority of his time driving around obstacles, trying to navigate objections and inconsistencies, rather than driving the path of faith.

Looks like a Presbyterian

Meanwhile, if the tire is underinflated, it is likely to blow out or become unbalanced.  Either way, the driver is jerked off the road, unable to drive a straight path.  The tire lacks the stability to withstand the pothole and the car is pulled every which way.

A well-inflated tire is flexible.  A stone or a pothole changes its shape.  The tire adapts to the character of the road, whether a smooth asphalt highway or a bumpy country road.  However, its basic structure and shape remain the same.  The tire shifts and it shapes but it holds to its fundamental character in all seasons.

So that’s my goal – a well-inflated tire theology.  Tune in next week to discuss which denomination is which tire company and consider the resemblance of the late Jerry Falwell to the Michelin Man.

Quote of the Day – “If we insist that we must first prove that God exists before we can turn to God then we shall never find God, because we are trying to treat the God of our being as though God were an intellectual problem that we can solve, define clearly, and then grant him what we consider God’s due.  Such a God does not exist.”  Gerard Hughes, God of Surprises

Our Father in Heaven

A Meditation on Matthew 6:9-10

Our Father in heaven.
Our Father in heaven.

The God to whom we pray.

Our Father is in heaven.  Our God is beyond us.
God Almighty, El Shaddai, the omnipotent, omnipresent, omniscient creator of all the universe.

God can do all things.

Let all the earth fear the LORD: let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him.  For he spoke, and it was done; he commanded, and it stood fast. (Ps. 33:8-9)

Jesus looked at them and said, “With men this is impossible, but all things are possible with God.” (Mt. 19:26)

God can do all things.

God is beyond us.

“For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
neither are your ways my ways,”
declares the LORD.
“As the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are my ways higher than your ways
and my thoughts than your thoughts.
(Isa. 55:8-9)

Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God!
How unsearchable his judgments,
and his paths beyond tracing out!
“Who has known the mind of the Lord?
Or who has been his counselor?”
“Who has ever given to God,
that God should repay him?”
For from him and through him and to him are all things.
To him be the glory forever! Amen.
(Rom. 11:33-36)

God is beyond us.

While God is good, we should have a certain awe and trepidation when we encounter God.  When Moses came to the burning bush he was told, “Do not come any closer.” “Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.”  When Moses asked to see God, God said to him, “I will cause all my goodness to pass in front of you, and I will proclaim my name, the LORD, in your presence…But you cannot see my face, for no one may see me and live.” (Ex. 33:18-19)

Fear of the Lord is more than simple admiration.

What is the biggest thing you can imagine?
What is the largest thing you can grasp in your mind?
What is the most powerful thing you have encountered?

God is beyond this.
God is more powerful.
God is that which nothing greater can be conceived.

This is the God we worship.
This is the God we pray to.

But…

There is a contradiction.

This God in heaven is not distant.  This God in heaven is not removed.
The unknowable God has made himself known.
This God in heaven is our Father.
Our Father in heaven.

When Moses encounters God, God tells him that his name is “I AM.”  And from this phrase we get the name of God.  This name comes down to us in the pronunciations Yahweh and Jehovah, but we don’t really know how this name was meant to pronounced.  We do not know because the ancient Israelites considered the name so holy, they stopped saying it.  In reading scripture, they began saying, “Adonai,” “My Lord,” in its place.  In became the custom that the name of God could only be said once a year, by the High Priest, on Yom Kippur.  Such was the reverence for God.

And then…
An undistinguished Rabbi from the obscure town of Nazareth began to teach, saying:
I AM the bread of life.
I AM the true vine.
I AM the light of the world.
I AM the way, the truth, and the life.
Before Abraham was, I AM.
I and the Father are one.

The God of the Universe in the flesh.  What an appalling and blasphemous claim! How offensive to reason and religion!                                                                            God Almighty hung on a cross.

They did not receive him, but to those who did receive him, to those who believe in his name, he gave the right to become Children of God.

Children of God.  Sons and daughters.
Jesus said, “I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you.”  (John 15:15)

The God of the universe has drawn near.

Christmas.  Advent is over.  God has come.

God is not just above us or beside us, but within us.

God is present.  Now.  In this moment.

“Lord, thank you that you are here.”

“Because you are children, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!” (Gal. 4:6)

Abba.  The Aramaic equivalent to DaDa – the first word a baby would speak.
This is the image we have of our intimacy with God.
Though a baby does not understand who or what her father is, she cries out, “Abba” in total trust that her Abba will come and care for her.

The God of the universe is our Abba.

O LORD, you have searched me
and you know me.
You know when I sit and when I rise;
you perceive my thoughts from afar.

You discern my going out and my lying down;
you are familiar with all my ways.
Before a word is on my tongue
you know it completely, O LORD. (Ps. 139)

When Adam sinned, he covered himself and hid from God.
When Christ atoned for our sin, he took away the veil of shame.

We stand, completely naked, before a God who loves us totally, completely, and unconditionally.

For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons,[m] neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

This is the love that has come down.
An incomprehensible love made real – made present – making us whole.
This is the God we worship this morning.
This the God who is here.
I AM.

And so we pray,
Our Father in heaven.

Though you are to be revered, your name has come to our lips.
Abba!
Hallowed be your name.

We pray that we would know your nearness.
We pray that we would know you in our hearts.
We pray that your power would transform our lives.
We pray that your love would change our world.
We pray that we would know your nearness.

“May Your kingdom come,
May your will be done,
On earth as it is in heaven.”

May that which seems far draw near.

Universal and particular.
Unknowable and yet known.

Our Father in Heaven.

Our Father in Heaven.

“Our Father in Heaven. Hallowed be your Name.  Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.

Amen.

That’s just Philly.

It’s hard to describe the mood in Philadelphia right now.  I likened it to the movie Meet the Parents where he has the perfect engagement set up and then through a series of escalating bad circumstances, the whole thing collapses.  What appears clear destiny suddenly has you saying, “Sorry I cared so much.”  I know nothing has collapsed.  We haven’t even lost a game.  But it feels as though we were robbed of something.  (We were robbed of a lead.  That last run was a joke and now our stud pitcher can’t win the game.)

It runs deeper than baseball though.  Everyone keeps saying, “That’s just Philly.”  “We wouldn’t do it any other way.”  But that’s what sucks so much.  For 21 hours there, it appeared that we would do it a different way.  It looked as though we were actually just going to come through, win big, and have a huge party.  It looked like optimism would actually be rewarded.  We can’t stop the murder rate.  We can’t offer decent public education.  We can’t develop our waterfront which has been in proposal for 20 years.  But at least the Phillies won.  That’s what we are supposed to be saying right now.

Someone from Oregon asked me today, “Do you think it’d really make a difference in the city if they won?”  And my thought was this.  We’d still have murders and drugs and unemployment.  But as it is, we’ve succumbed to these things.  We are defeated.  “That’s just Philly.  That’s the way everything goes around here.”  And for a moment, we could’ve said, “No, actually, the Phillies won the world series.”

They probably still will.  Nonetheless, today was simply depressing.  It was 35 and snowing here today.  Not like fluffy snow.  The kind that forms slush, so that your socks immediately get wet because you basically are in 2 inches of water.  In the midst of it, my car died.  And I sat there, wet, in my cold car and thought, “This freakin’ city.”

I guess that’s Philly.

Remember the Poor

My friends, we need more red ties in America.

When I was in Assisi last year, I met a friendly monk.  When he learned I was to become a pastor, he got very excited, promised to pray for me, and made the sign of the cross on my forehead (I was Catholic for the day).  We talked for a bit, though the language barrier was tough.  And as I was leaving, his final words to me were, “Remember the poor.”

This imperative comes from Galatians 2:10, when Paul is describing the Council of Jerusalem.  The Council dealt with the first major theological break in the life of the church, having to do with Gentile inclusion in the church.  Paul seems to indicate that despite their differences in both calling and theological leaning, everyone in the early church believed that care for the poor was an essential part of the life of the church.  Caring for the poor is a central message of Moses, the prophets, Jesus, and the apostles.  There are over 300 verses in the Bible that deal with the poor and the responsibility of God’s people to care for them.

This is why I am a bit concerned that both of our political candidates, both devout in their Christian faith, talk only about the middle class.  I do care about Joe the Plumber.  But what about Bill the unemployed guy, Sarah the single mother on welfare, and Jeff the schizophrenic?  Are we committed to a society that cares for the least of these or one that ensures the perpetual comfort of the already comfortable?  The middle class are the majority in America and their well-being is important to the everyone.  But Isaiah 58 tells us we will not flourish if we do not care for the poor.

Historically, the poor do not vote.  They don’t make political contributions and tend not to watch debates.  They are not exactly a powerful voting block.  So those of us who are middle class must be a voice for the voiceless.  We must put poverty on the agenda.  In a time of economic turbulence, we are tempted to vote for the candidate who can retain our wealth.  But we must remember the poor.  And we must urge our future president to do the same

Musings

Some important thoughts on the world:

I was listening to the 885 Essential XPN songs countdown today and they said, “This countdown is sponsored by Canada Dry.”  This struck me for two reasons: 1) Who drinks Canada Dry?  I was unaware the product was still on the market. 2) What’s with the name Canada Dry?  I should start a beverage line under the moniker Mexico Wet.  That at least makes some sense.

Why is the speed limit never 60 mph?  Why do we prefer our speed limits in odd increments (55 and 65)?  Is it because 5 rhymes with drive and we can write rock songs about it?

Why don’t we wash our toothbrushes?  We wash everything else?  But not the thing that we daily use to clean our mouths.  Seems odd.

Being an Activist Capitalist

While I tend to be cynical of the view that free market capitalism is God-inspired and perfect in all its ways, I do believe it is the best system to provide the maximum benefit for the most number of people.  Left to its own, the invisible hand inevitably exploits some and leaves others behind and it the responsibility of a society to correct these problems.

However, the bigger problem is not with capitalism itself, but with the particular breed of corporate capitalism that seems to dominate the American landscape – valueless capitalism.  In this framework, the only thing that matters is the bottom line.  As I am constantly reminded by my mercantile friends, the job of the CEO is to maximize shareholder value, not to do what is right.  This to me is a fallacy that treats money as an end rather than a means.  Money on its own is worthless.  Money has worth only insofar as it is able to improve life.  Too often businesses make money but decrease the quality of life for so many who are involved. 

To ammend this situation, I propose we buy with our values.  We purchase from companies that have quality of life as their top goal, rather than making money.  This is more than a feel good strategy, but a means to overcoming poverty as well.  Poverty cannot be overcome through welfare and charity alone.  It takes business to provide good jobs, to sustain local economies and ecosystems, and invest in their neighborhoods.  Many companies buy only from local farmers (Ben & Jerry’s).  Many donate heavily to churches and charities (Chic Fil-A).  Many provide health benefits to even low-level employees (dare I say Starbucks).  Many even require employees to volunteer in the community (Timberland).  Quality of life is the goal and healthy communities are built, rather than bank accounts simply being increased.  These are all national brands, which are not bad, but I suggest you research your local businesses, which have an even greater ability to do communal good.  

Call me a liberal, but I am pro-business.  I just also believe in radical social change.  I believe in tithing and I believe in charity, but I also believe we must support systemic changes that can sustain and revitalize communities.  This way, the poor do not just have a meal to eat, but a well-paying job to go to, a city park to play in, and adequate housing for their family.  These are quality of life issues that valueless capitalism will not address.  We must support the companies that will, those that see quality of life as more important than the bottom line.  We must buy with our values.  We must be…Activist Capitalists!

Bienvenue a Quebec

Paging all Francophones…Did you know that people speak French in North America?  Just a myth, right?  No, actually, it’s true.  Tonight, I drove 97 kilometers from Burlington, Vermont (Holy crap! We have a French state in America!?! What’s going on?!) along 133 Nord and exited onto Rue Universite Ouest.  I’m not really sure what to do with myself.  Drink wine?  Eat crepes?  Hate America?  No…I can’t do it.  Comment ca va?  I’m American!  And I won’t eat your potatoes au gratin nor drive down your cul-de-sac.  This Frankish imperialism has gone on too long.  C’est la vie?  La vie est America!  Now if only we could keep George Bush in office for four more years.

(Post Scriptum – After writing this, I realized I was wearing corduroys.  So sad.)

Seasons and Creation

Today is beautiful.  It is 86, low humidity, blue sky, and white puffy clouds.  But one of the things I am noticing today is the way the sun is coming in my apartment at a lower angle than it has all summer.  And this, of course, means that fall is coming.  I have always been fascinated by the changes in nature throughout the year – the way the leaves turn, the way the sky changes from gray to blue,  the way the shadows begin to change.  One of my biggest joys in living at Princeton for 3 years was knowing, by the third year, the order in which trees would lose their leaves.  And there was a comfort in this, that life would continue on.  The church tends to shy away from such thinking for fear of dabbling in paganism.  However, Genesis 1:14-15 says, “And God said, ‘Let there be lights in the expanse of the sky to separate the day from the night, and let them serve as signs to mark seasons and days and years, and let them be lights in the expanse of the sky to give light on the earth.’  And it was so.”

As I am no longer in school, I can no longer mark fall by the beginning of classes.  I am tempted to mark fall by the prevalence of articles on ESPN.com about football.  But Genesis tells me that the seasons bear witness to the creation of God.  Fall is coming.  In the changing season, will we find joy in more than just the pigskin and the pumpkin?

Good for the Soul!?

Philadelphia phenom: This Guy

While I would love to celebrate the victory of our very own Philadelphia Soul in Arena Bowl XXII, it sent my mind in a different direction. Two weeks ago, the Associated Press ran a story that was the cover headline on the Bucks County Courier Times: “Leaders Running Out of Economic Options.” In other words, “Panic now! The apocalypse has already started.”

I know that our present economic malaise has hurt many and I don’t mean to trivialize this. However, I have trouble believing that we have hit rock bottom when our society has enough discretionary income to support the Arena Football League. There are only two conclusions that I can draw from this:

1) We are actually extraordinarily wealthy and we have hit a minor bump that no longer allows us to consume everything we want, only most things.

2) We have a huge income gap in America. If indeed, our economy is collapsing, it is only collapsing upon the poor. The economic elite apparently have enough cash that, in Philadelphia alone, we can afford to be entertained by the Phillies, Eagles, Sixers, Flyers, Kixx, Soul, Wings, Phantoms, and a Major League Soccer team to be (entertaining you in 2009!). I have not heard of any actual plans to change our entertainment habits, so there must be plenty of money still floating around, just in the hands of a select few.

I am happy for Bon Jovi, the Philadelphia Soul, and my city that is so desperate for a championship that we care about Arena Football. I just don’t want to be sedated by the continual public offering of bread and circus.